Safety air-brake appliance for railway-cars.



D. N. BAGOT & D. D. ARDEN.

SAFETY AIR BRAKE APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLIGATION FILED JULY 27. 1908.

Patented Feb. 16, 1909.

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1 I I 1 1 I I a Witnemzo UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

- DANIEL BACOT AND DANIEL DIARDEN, OF STATESBORO, GEORGIA; SAID BACO'I I i ASSIGNOR TO SAID ARDEN.

SAFETY AIR-BRAKE APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 16, 1909.

Application filed July 27, 1908. Serial No. $5,547.

. cars equipped with air brakes. Its object is to provide an attachment for such .cars

whereby the brakes will be automatically applied in case ofv the derailment of acar wheel or truck, or the breaking of an axle, so that the train can be brought to a stop by the application of the brakes without the necessity of any manual operation thereof.

Another object of the invention is to. so construct said attachment that any dangerous depression-s in the track can be detected 1 thereby as said device will cause a momentary service application of the air brake, thereby notifying the engineer of the defect 'in the track, even if the train should pass safely thereover; and in event of a break in a rail over which the truck may pass without actual derailment, a service application of the air may be made, so that the attention of the engineer will be called to the defect in the track.

The present invention therefore embodies a a novel mechanism adapted to be attached to a car in such position that upon derailment of a car-truck, or wheels, or breakage of an axle, the air pipe may be fully-vented so as to apply the emergency brake to the train and'bring it to a stop before a serious wreck occurs; and also whereby if a truck finds a broken place in the track or dangerous depression therein, the device will operate to momentarily release the air and thus give a service application of the brake. In rac- .tice we propose to equip each axle o the truck with such a device, and to locate the attachments for adjacent axles at alternate sides of the truck, so that a defect in either rail will be detected by at least one of the devices, and if either axle is derailed the emergenc brake will be applied.

We wil now describe the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings in which Figure l is a detail transverse section of a car and truck showing the device in frontelevation and partly in section, also showing the position 'of'the parts when the axle, wheels and truck are in perfect condition, at which time the parts embodying the invention are inert or inactive. Fig. 2 is a similar view'showin the positionv of the parts caused by derailment of the axle, and resulting inmaking an emergency application of the brake. Fig. 3 is a detail.

In the drawings we have not shown any details of the brake mechanism, as it is well understood and the invention is adapted to be used with any of the standard air-brakeequipments on railway cars. Neither have we shown any particular construction of car or truck, as the invention is adapted to be used with any standard forms thereof.

The following description will enable any In the drawings, A represents one of the car axles, the wheels; R the ordinary track rails; C the bottom of a car; S one of the center car sills, and S one of the intermediate car sills. v

P designates an air pipe, connected with.

the air brake service pipes of the train (not shown); and V a venting valve connected with this pipe, and having a bifurcated or slotted lever '22 on its stem.

Suspended preferably from the car sills S, S, or other convenient portion of the car, is a frame or hanger, which may consist of two side members 1, 1, an upper member I and .a lower member 1; which latter may be conveniently connected to the lower ends of the side'members 1, 1, by bolts 1. The members 1 1, are provided with vertically alined apertures in which is guided a vertical rod 2, which is provided with a pin or bolt 2 engaging the bifurcated valve-lever 'v, and said rod is normally upheld by a spring in position to hold and keep valve V closed. As shown a helical spring 3 is interposed be- ;tween the member 1 and a pin 2 transfixing which diverge at their upper ends above the bar 1, their lower ends belng attached to the rod below said bar. The rod 2 extends be low the axle A and is provided with a lateral extensionbr loop 2 which passes below and under the adjacent axle, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the curved portion 2 of rod 2 being soformed that it will not contact with the axle A when the axle and car are in normal position, and will also allow the usual relative movements of the car and axle when in motion and'when turning curves.

' in Fig. 2, thereby fully. opening the valve V and quickly venting the air in the brake system, causing an emergency application of the brakes and bringing the train to a stop.

In practice we propose to apply one of these devices to each axle of a car,-so if any truck equipped with such device is derailed an emergency application ofthe brake will be made and the train will be quickly brought toa stand still. Upon such an untoward depression of'the rod the spring catches 2 will be pulled below member l and will catch thereunder and hold rod 2 in'lowered posi- ,tion, and spring 3 under compression as indicated in Fig. 2, keeping the valve open. If the drop of the axle is so great as to more than close spring 3 the'pin 2 will break and the rod 2 can be pulled through the spring and out of the member 1 without injury to the valve V, the air brake system, or the main portion ofthe frame. The member 1 is preferably made removable as indicated in the drawings, so that in eventof such strip- I ping of the rod 2 from theframe, the bar 1" can be easily removed and the parts readjusted or repaired with facility.

The device is also useful as a detector, for in case of a break in the rail ordan 'erously low place in the track over which the true can however pass withoutderailment, the

excessive depression of the axle in passing suchspot would depress rod 2 suflici'ently to momentarily open the valve V and give a service application of the brake, thereby signal ng the .engincer and callin h'isattention to the fact that there is a defec tfin' the track; and as this action would .be'r'e' eated by I every axle equipped, with-this evice, the

train could be gent ly brought to a stop, and the engineer would be unmistakably notified that the track was in a dangerous condition. Having described our inventiqn what we claim as-new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. safetyair-brake applianceifor cars comprising a venting valve connected with the air brake system of the car, a vertically movable rod suspended adjacent the valve and having an extension underlying the car axle, means for normally upholding the rod and loose connections between said rod and the valve stem whereby excessive drop of the car axle will through said extension cause the rod to actuate the valve.

2. In combination, a venting valve connected with the air-brakesystem'of a car, a frame adjacent the valve, a vertically movable rod in said frame, connections be-' tween said rod and the valve stem, a spring for upholding the rod in position to keep valve normally closed and means whereby excessive drop of the car axle will cause the rod to actuate the valve.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination of a car, a venting valve connected with the-air-brake system of the car, a frame adjacent the valve, a vertically movable rod guided in said frame, connections between the rod and valve lever, a spring for upholding the rod in normal position, and means whereby said rod is operated by the car axle when the latter is derailed or unduly depressed.

4. A safety appliance for cars, comprising a venting valve connected with the air-brake system of the car, a vertically movable rod adjacent the valve, connections between said rod and the valve stem, means whereby excessive drop of the car axle will cause the rod to actuate the valve, and means for locking the rod when depressed to fully open the valve.

5. A safety appliance for cars, comprising a venting valve connected'with the air-brake system of the car, a vertically movable rod suspended adjacent the valve and having an extension underlying the car axle, connections between. said rod and the valve stem whereby excessive drop of-the car axle will cause the rod to actuate the valve, and means for'lockin the rod when depressed to open the valve ully. 1 Y

6. In a device. of the character described, the combination of a car, and valve connected with the air-brake system of the car; with'a frame beside the valve, :1.

a venting rod guided in said frame, connections between said'rod' and valvelever, a spring for, upholding the rod in normal position, means for lockin' the rod when depressed to open the valve ully'; and means whereby'said rod' is operated from the car axle when the latter is derailed or unduly depressed.

7. In a device of the character. described, I

the combination ofa car, and a venting valve connected with the air brake system of the car; with a frame suspended from the car beside the valve, a vertically movable rod guided in said frame and havin an extension under the axle whereby sai' rod is v, tions between said rod and valve lever a as our own, we affix our signatures in presence of two Witnesses.

DANIEL N. BACOT.

DANIEL D. ARDEN. In presence of SAM MOORE, \V. B. MOORE.

operated from the car axle when the latter is derailed or unduly depressed; connecspring for upholding the rod in normal posi- 5 tlon, and means for locking the rod when depressed to open the valve fully.

In testimony that We claim the foregoing 

